High a. [Compar. Higher superl. Highest.]
 1. Elevated above any starting point of measurement, as a line, or surface; having altitude; lifted up; raised or extended in the direction of the zenith; lofty; tall; as, a high mountain, tower, tree; the sun is high.
 2. Regarded as raised up or elevated; distinguished; remarkable; conspicuous; superior; -- used indefinitely or relatively, and often in figurative senses, which are understood from the connection; as --
 (a) Elevated in character or quality, whether moral or intellectual; preëminent; honorable; as, high aims, or motives. “The highest faculty of the soul.”
 (b) Exalted in social standing or general estimation, or in rank, reputation, office, and the like; dignified; as, she was welcomed in the highest circles.
    He was a wight of high renown.   --Shak.
 (c) Of noble birth; illustrious; as, of high family.
 (d) Of great strength, force, importance, and the like; strong; mighty; powerful; violent; sometimes, triumphant; victorious; majestic, etc.; as, a high wind; high passions. “With rather a high manner.”
    Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.   --Ps. lxxxix. 13.
    Can heavenly minds such high resentment show?   --Dryden.
 (e) Very abstract; difficult to comprehend or surmount; grand; noble.
    Both meet to hear and answer such high things.   --Shak.
    Plain living and high thinking are no more.   --Wordsworth.
 (f) Costly; dear in price; extravagant; as, to hold goods at a high price.
    If they must be good at so high a rate, they know they may be safe at a cheaper.   --South.
 (g) Arrogant; lofty; boastful; proud; ostentatious; -- used in a bad sense.
    An high look and a proud heart . . . is sin.   --Prov. xxi. 4.
    His forces, after all the high discourses, amounted really but to eighteen hundred foot.   --Clarendon.
 3. Possessing a characteristic quality in a supreme or superior degree; as, high (i. e., intense) heat; high (i. e., full or quite) noon; high (i. e., rich or spicy) seasoning; high (i. e., complete) pleasure; high (i. e., deep or vivid) color; high (i. e., extensive, thorough) scholarship, etc.
    High time it is this war now ended were.   --Spenser.
    High sauces and spices are fetched from the Indies.   --Baker.
 4. Cookery Strong-scented; slightly tainted; as, epicures do not cook game before it is high.
 5. Mus. Acute or sharp; -- opposed to grave or low; as, a high note.
 6. Phon. Made with a high position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate, as ē (ēve), ōō (fōōd). See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 10, 11.
 High admiral, the chief admiral.
 High altar, the principal altar in a church.
 High and dry, out of water; out of reach of the current or tide; -- said of a vessel, aground or beached.
 High and mighty arrogant; overbearing. [Colloq.]
 High art, art which deals with lofty and dignified subjects and is characterized by an elevated style avoiding all meretricious display.
 High bailiff, the chief bailiff.
 High Church, ∧ Low Church, two ecclesiastical parties in the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church. The high-churchmen emphasize the doctrine of the apostolic succession, and hold, in general, to a sacramental presence in the Eucharist, to baptismal regeneration, and to the sole validity of Episcopal ordination. They attach much importance to ceremonies and symbols in worship. Low-churchmen lay less stress on these points, and, in many instances, reject altogether the peculiar tenets of the high-church school. See Broad Church.
 High constable Law, a chief of constabulary. See Constable, n., 2.
 High commission court, a court of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in England erected and united to the regal power by Queen Elizabeth in 1559. On account of the abuse of its powers it was abolished in 1641.
 High day Script., a holy or feast day. --John xix. 31.
 High festival Eccl., a festival to be observed with full ceremonial.
 High German, or High Dutch. See under German.
 High jinks, an old Scottish pastime; hence, noisy revelry; wild sport. [Colloq.] “All the high jinks of the county, when the lad comes of age.”  --F. Harrison.
 High latitude Geog., one designated by the higher figures; consequently, a latitude remote from the equator.
 High life, life among the aristocracy or the rich.
 High liver, one who indulges in a rich diet.
 High living, a feeding upon rich, pampering food.
 High Mass. R. C. Ch. See under Mass.
 High milling, a process of making flour from grain by several successive grindings and intermediate sorting, instead of by a single grinding.
 High noon, the time when the sun is in the meridian.
 High place Script., an eminence or mound on which sacrifices were offered.
 High priest. See in the Vocabulary.
 High relief. Fine Arts See Alto-rilievo.
 High school. See under School. High seas Law, the open sea; the part of the ocean not in the territorial waters of any particular sovereignty, usually distant three miles or more from the coast line. --Wharton.
 High steam, steam having a high pressure.
 High steward, the chief steward.
 High tea, tea with meats and extra relishes.
 High tide, the greatest flow of the tide; high water.
 High time. (a) Quite time; full time for the occasion. (b) A time of great excitement or enjoyment; a carousal. [Slang]
 High treason, treason against the sovereign or the state, the highest civil offense. See Treason.
 Note: ☞ It is now sufficient to speak of high treason as treason simply, seeing that petty treason, as a distinct offense, has been abolished.
 -- High water, the utmost flow or greatest elevation of the tide; also, the time of such elevation.
 High-water mark. (a) That line of the seashore to which the waters ordinarily reach at high water. (b) A mark showing the highest level reached by water in a river or other body of fresh water, as in time of freshet.
 High-water shrub Bot., a composite shrub (Iva frutescens), growing in salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of the United States.
 High wine, distilled spirits containing a high percentage of alcohol; -- usually in the plural.
 To be on a high horse, to be on one's dignity; to bear one's self loftily. [Colloq.]
 With a high hand. (a) With power; in force; triumphantly. “The children of Israel went out with a high hand.” --Ex. xiv. 8. (b) In an overbearing manner, arbitrarily. “They governed the city with a high hand.” --Jowett (Thucyd. ).
 Syn: -- Tall; lofty; elevated; noble; exalted; supercilious; proud; violent; full; dear. See Tall.
 High priest Eccl. A chief priest; esp., the head of the Jewish priesthood.
 ◄ ►
 high priest
      n 1: a preeminent authority or major proponent of a movement or
           doctrine; "he's the high priest of contemporary jazz"
      2: a senior clergyman and dignitary [syn: archpriest, hierarch,
          prelate, primate]
 High priest
    Aaron was the first who was solemnly set apart to this office
    (Ex. 29:7; 30:23; Lev. 8:12). He wore a peculiar dress, which on
    his death passed to his successor in office (Ex. 29:29, 30).
    Besides those garments which he wore in common with all priests,
    there were four that were peculiar to himself as high priest:
      (1.) The "robe" of the ephod, all of blue, of "woven work,"
    worn immediately under the ephod. It was without seam or
    sleeves. The hem or skirt was ornamented with pomegranates and
    golden bells, seventy-two of each in alternate order. The
    sounding of the bells intimated to the people in the outer court
    the time when the high priest entered into the holy place to
    burn incense before the Lord (Ex. 28).
      (2.) The "ephod" consisted of two parts, one of which covered
    the back and the other the breast, which were united by the
    "curious girdle." It was made of fine twined linen, and
    ornamented with gold and purple. Each of the shoulder-straps was
    adorned with a precious stone, on which the names of the twelve
    tribes were engraved. This was the high priest's distinctive
    vestment (1 Sam. 2:28; 14:3; 21:9; 23:6, 9; 30:7).
      (3.) The "breastplate of judgment" (Ex. 28:6-12, 25-28;
    39:2-7) of "cunning work." It was a piece of cloth doubled, of
    one span square. It bore twelve precious stones, set in four
    rows of three in a row, which constituted the Urim and Thummim
    (q.v.). These stones had the names of the twelve tribes engraved
    on them. When the high priest, clothed with the ephod and the
    breastplate, inquired of the Lord, answers were given in some
    mysterious way by the Urim and Thummim (1 Sam. 14:3, 18, 19;
    23:2, 4, 9, 11,12; 28:6; 2 Sam. 5:23).
      (4.) The "mitre," or upper turban, a twisted band of eight
    yards of fine linen coiled into a cap, with a gold plate in
    front, engraved with "Holiness to the Lord," fastened to it by a
    ribbon of blue.
      To the high priest alone it was permitted to enter the holy of
    holies, which he did only once a year, on the great Day of
    Atonement, for "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made
    manifest" (Heb. 9; 10). Wearing his gorgeous priestly vestments,
    he entered the temple before all the people, and then, laying
    them aside and assuming only his linen garments in secret, he
    entered the holy of holies alone, and made expiation, sprinkling
    the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat, and offering up
    incense. Then resuming his splendid robes, he reappeared before
    the people (Lev. 16). Thus the wearing of these robes came to be
    identified with the Day of Atonement.
      The office, dress, and ministration of the high priest were
    typical of the priesthood of our Lord (Heb. 4:14; 7:25; 9:12,
    etc.).
      It is supposed that there were in all eighty-three high
    priests, beginning with Aaron (B.C. 1657) and ending with
    Phannias (A.D. 70). At its first institution the office of high
    priest was held for life (but comp. 1 Kings 2:27), and was
    hereditary in the family of Aaron (Num. 3:10). The office
    continued in the line of Eleazar, Aaron's eldest son, for two
    hundred and ninety-six years, when it passed to Eli, the first
    of the line of Ithamar, who was the fourth son of Aaron. In this
    line it continued to Abiathar, whom Solomon deposed, and
    appointed Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, in his stead (1 Kings
    2:35), in which it remained till the time of the Captivity.
    After the Return, Joshua, the son of Josedek, of the family of
    Eleazar, was appointed to this office. After him the succession
    was changed from time to time under priestly or political
    influences.